Child Development Center Program Director

If you’re passionate about shaping exceptional childcare services and want a leadership role where your decisions directly improve children’s lives, strengthen families, and support your community, this position gives you the platform to do it.

As the leader of Children & Families of Iowa’s childcare and related programs, you’ll have the freedom to innovate, the support to grow, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact every day.

What’s In It For You?

In this role, you will:

• Shape the Vision: You’ll guide the overall operation of our childcare programs, ensuring they meet high standards, fulfill funding expectations, and reflect CFI’s mission. Your leadership directly enhances the services children and families rely on every day.
• Build and Develop a Strong Team: You’ll create a positive, high-performing workplace through hiring, coaching, training, and celebrating staff. Because when your team grows, your impact grows with it.
• Lead Quality and Compliance with Confidence: You’ll ensure programs meet accreditation, licensing, and HHS requirements, giving you the pride of running programs that exceed expectations for excellence and health and safety.
• Bring Ideas to Life: You’ll plan, implement, and evaluate program content so it stays responsive to community needs and aligned with budget goals. Your innovative thinking drives meaningful improvements.
• Collaborate With Partners Who Believe in Your Work: You’ll build strong relationships with funders like Early Head Start, United Way, and Early Childhood Iowa, helping sustain and grow programs that make a difference.
• Be a Key Voice in Program Development: Regular collaboration with senior leadership means your insights influence strategy and big-picture planning.
• Strengthen Quality Across the Agency: You’ll lead and participate in quality improvement efforts that enhance CFI’s services, staff experience, and client outcomes. Your commitment fuels agency-wide success.
• Support a Safe, Welcoming Environment: You’ll work closely with our CFO and Foundation teams to ensure safe facilities and advocate for additional resources that elevate the experience for clients and staff.
• Grow as a Leader: You’ll maintain up-to-date knowledge in areas like QRS, Creative Curriculum, and Teaching Strategies GOLD Assessment, ensuring you stay confident, current, and ready for new opportunities.

What you need to succeed:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Child Development or related field
• Five years of related experience, including supervisory leadership
• An understanding of human behavior, child development, and trauma-informed care
• Ability to meet DHS points-based qualification standards
• Strong communication skills for working with staff, families, funders, and partners
• Solid math and reasoning skills to support budgeting, reporting, and compliance
• Ability to navigate technical information and make sound decisions
• Comfort working in varied environments, indoors and outdoors
• Comfort handling occasional situations involving bodily fluids—an important part of keeping children safe, clean, and well-cared for.
• Ability to lift, move, and position materials as needed for childcare operations, including ability to lift and/or move up to 75 pounds.
• A valid driver’s license, clean driving record, and the ability to meet agency insurance requirements. You must be able to provide proof of auto insurance and may be required to obtain a CDL or Chauffeur’s license. An acceptable driving record must be maintained per insurance carrier standards.
• Willingness to complete and maintain all required training and certifications as applicable by licensing, accreditations, contract and agency guidelines

Be a part of something extraordinary!
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, disability, veteran, or other protected status.